By Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Conversations in Ted Wertz's southern Boone County home take a little longer to finish.

"It's so loud you have to stop in the middle of a sentence to wait for the truck to go by," Wertz said.

But that's a minor inconvenience, compared with trying to sleep as the dump trucks rumble past his window.

For years residents along U.S. 42 and Ky. 14 near the Gallatin County line have lived with noisy dump trucks barreling down their roads, but recently the traffic has increased with trucks running all night and all weekend.

It's not only the noise, they say. The large trucks cross the center line on narrow Ky. 14, speed down steep inclines and break up the pavement.

"They just don't belong on that road," said Wertz, who lives on 10 acres on U.S. 42. "It's something terrible waiting to happen."

Wertz and his neighbor, Sandy Aseere, are now asking Boone County for help. Five residents representing about 50 of their neighbors recently asked Fiscal Court to do something about the trucks.

"We really just want some type of livable conditions back," said Wertz.

"It used to be Sunday that I knew there would be some peace and quiet around here," he said. "Then they started on Sundays."

Because most of the trucks are coming from a limestone mine in Gallatin County, Boone County officials say there's not much they can do about the trucks.

"If it were in Boone County, through zoning, we could have put restrictions on the hours of operation," said Judge-executive Gary Moore. "We really don't have control over that."

But they may be able to do something about the noise and the danger, Moore said.

"We are going to take a look at the issue of the noise, but I don't think we are going to be able to eliminate it," Moore said.

The county could pass a noise ordinance regulating the braking and mufflers of trucks, he said.

In the past, the county has increased traffic enforcement on the stretch of road and "it's something we need to do again," Moore said. The sheriff's department will monitor the road and ticket trucks that are speeding or cross the center line, he said.

Aseere said the problem became worse in June when a new state law went into effect. The law allows any vehicle with 80,000 pounds or less to travel any AAA state-maintained highway without concern for the axle weight limits. Before the new law, weight limits were 20,000 pounds per single axle, 34,000 pounds on two axles and 48,000 pounds on three axles.

Then-Gov. Paul Patton vetoed the bill, citing wear and tear on state roads, but the veto was overridden in the legislature.

Department of Highway District 6 spokeswoman Nancy Wood said the department hasn't received any complaints since the new law took effect.

Moore said he has asked the county attorney to research the new law to see what effect it has in the county.

Aseere once sold organic vegetables from her farm at the intersection U.S. 42 and Ky. 14.

"I can't even work in my garden, it's so noisy," she said.

Aseere, who has lived on her farm for 10 years, held two meetings that 30 to 40 people attended. She has written complaints from 50 neighbors.

At Fiscal Court, she showed county officials pictures of eight dump trucks lined up behind a school bus. Since the truck traffic began, some of her neighbors moved, but Aseere said she will continue to fight the trucks "because I don't want to not live here."

E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com